Wood has always been and still is an important material for indoor or outdoor construction as well as in furniture, railway ties and utility poles. However, since wood is a cellulosic material, and therefore organic in nature, it is susceptible to degradation and decay when exposed to humidity and biological attacks from insects, mold, etc. Thus, protection against deterioration is necessary and has been accomplished in the past using various methods.
One of the commonly known methods for protecting wood includes impregnation of wood pieces with oil-borne preservatives such as creosote or a creosote-containing composition. These are generally found to be toxic, especially for workers involved in wood treatment and/or installation of treated wood pieces. This toxicity also prevents these treated wood pieces to be used in settings outside of railway ties, utility poles, etc. Creosote lixiviation in nature over time also results in environmentally detrimental effects. Furthermore, while creosote-based preservatives' effect may last up to thirty years in a cold northern climate, these preservatives will lose efficiency much more rapidly in warmer climates. Other known wood treatments include water-borne preservatives such as arsenic salts, boric acid, chromium salts, and others. Water-borne preservatives are generally known to be more prone to water induced lixiviation, which results in the preservatives' active agents leaching into the environment, some of these active agents being highly toxic. The lixiviation of the preservatives from a treated wood piece also means rapid loss of protection.
Accordingly, there is a need for alternative compounds and compositions for protecting wood surfaces and fibers from degradation and decay. For instance, these compounds and compositions may have improved properties in comparison to known wood preservatives, such as reduced water solubility, reduced or prevented lixiviation of the active product, improved efficacy or retention of efficacy over time, reduced toxicity, and/or less or nearly absent environmental negative impact.